Former Jinja RDC Eric Sakwa on Monday led a protest through the streets of Jinja City after suffering a heavy defeat in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) primaries for Jinja South West Constituency, declaring the election outcome fraudulent and calling for its nullification.
Sakwa, who garnered just 71 votes, was joined by fellow aspirants and supporters as they camped at the NRM offices demanding action from the party’s top leadership.
The protest follows the NRM Party Primary Elections held on July 17, 2025, whose results have sparked widespread rejection by several aspirants.
According to official tallies from the NRM Electoral Commission, former area MP Moses Grace Balyeku won the Jinja South West flagbearer slot with 9,290 votes.
Daniel Kanu came second with 2,240 votes, followed by David Talenga with 78 votes and Sakwa in fourth place.
Sakwa and his colleagues argue the results do not match the figures recorded on the official Declaration of Results (DR) forms.
"We are demanding three things: nullification of the results for Jinja South West, sacking of Deputy RCC Jinja Mr. Martin Kasonzi, and the arrest of all returning officers involved," Sakwa said.
He claimed that voting in several polling stations, including Nalufenya A and B, started well before the official 10am time.
"By 9am, we arrived at the polling stations only to find that voting had already ended," he said.
Daniel Kanu, who placed second, accused the party of risking a repeat of the 2021 general election defeat if it insists on retaining Balyeku as flagbearer.
"If Balyeku is retained as the flagbearer, we shall witness a repeat of the 2021 defeat. He no longer commands the people’s mandate," Kanu said.
David Talenga, another defeated candidate, accused Deputy RCC Martin Kasonzi of coordinating acts of violence and voter intimidation.
"He led a group of goons from one polling station to another, assaulting our polling agents. None of our agents signed the DR forms. So where did the declared results come from?" he asked.
Kasonzi denied the accusations, dismissing them as baseless.
"Do they have evidence, or is it just hearsay? They are just jokers," he said.
Defending the process, Goretti Akello, the Deputy Returning Officer for NRM in Jinja City, maintained that the election was free and fair.
"We tallied and declared the results as submitted by the Sub County registrars. The elections were conducted in a free and fair manner," she said.
In a parallel race, Peace Tibyaze, a contestant for the Jinja District Woman MP seat, also rejected the outcome of the primaries, calling them a “sham” marred by “unprecedented irregularities.”
According to results announced by District Returning Officer Paul Kabaale Kiwanuka, Monic Namukose emerged the winner with 33,941 votes (49%), followed by Tibyaze with 28,739 votes (41.5%) and incumbent Loy Katali with 6,441 votes (9.3%).
"What happened in these primaries is unacceptable and has tainted the credibility of the party’s internal democratic process," Tibyaze said.
The protests reflect deepening discontent within the NRM’s ranks in Jinja, a traditionally strong base for the party.
Stakeholders are now urging the NRM national secretariat to investigate the claims and address the grievances before they spiral into internal divisions that could affect the party's performance in the 2026 general elections.
